Perceptions of Truth: Alien abduction, Part Two

in #philosophy8 years ago

Part One

Perceptions of truth: Alien abduction, Part One

In Part One, I started by speaking of my experience with Night Terror/Sleep Paralysis, and from there discussed how there is a movement in psychiatric care to treat people who report having being abducted by aliens as if those victims' experiences were real, whether or not an abduction itself actually took place.

Today we will take about media distortions of alien abduction reports, and look at reasons why someone might set up an alien abduction hoax. We'll also look at some commonalities in the things that scare us across cultures.


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Media Manipulations of Reality

I am not making the argument that there are aliens and they abduct people, and I'm not making the argument that they are not. These things are almost impossible to prove.

Understanding What We Can't See - Conspiracy, "Debunking", and Absence of Evidence - Part One (UPDATED)
Understanding What We Can't See - Conspiracy, "Debunking", and Absence of Evidence - Part Two

What makes the issue even more contentious is the media tendency to distort the things that we know actually happened. Sometimes, there are hoaxes, for example. Then the media does what the media almost always does...lie.

For example, in the movie Fire in the Sky, the sheriff was portrayed as supporting the logging crew's claims; in real life not so much:
"Sheriff Skeptical of Story: Saucer Traveler Hiding After Returning To Earth". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press, Nov 13, 1975.

Likewise, a lot of focus was put on the fact that the men had passed lie detector tests; not so much attention was paid to the process of the testing:

APRO and the National Enquirer had arranged an earlier secret polygraph test for Travis with John J. McCarthy, the most experienced polygraph examiner in the state of Arizona. McCarthy found Travis to be attempting "gross deception," and pronounced the abduction story a hoax.
Sheaffer, Robert. (1981). The UFO Verdict: Examining the Evidence. Prometheus Books

A more rigorous investigation by Philip J. Klass (1989) discovered that the case was a hoax, that the lie detector test was flawed, and the abduction a "put- up job" to make money."
Nickell, Joe. (1992). Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics, & Other Mysteries. Prometheus Books

A comment on the Amazon page for the last book:
a book on finding normal, everyday reasons for things that make people think that their houses are haunted. Since the majority of "paranormal phenomena" have, in actuality, perfectly normal and mundane causes, this book has far more useful information in it than any other "paranormal" book out there.
Simply put, if you want to know what is "paranormal", you absolutely have to be able to distinguish what is "normal"

Back to the Walton case and the media, the movie didn't mention something that might have been relevant to getting at the truth of the case:

Walton, his older brother, and his mother were described by the Navajo County, Arizona sheriff as "longtime students of UFOs"
Wiki

But why hoax in the first place?

I once worked with a guy took part in a Bigfoot hoax that hit the national news. I didn't know it, but a co-worker had found out and spread the rumor (the co-worker didn't like this guy); I looked up and it was pretty interesting. I'm going to avoid some details on this so as not to identify the guy.

The guy had been a bonafide hero, and had gotten injured during the action; he set up the Bigfoot hoax while recovering. The guy was pretty honest, pretty professional, pretty smart, but he had a smartass side. His mother might have described him as "mischievious".

I never asked him about the hoax, as the guy never brought it up himself. Looking at the Walton case, money was suggested a reason for the hoax. This guy wasn't a money grubber type...and if I had to guess, I would say it was the ultimate practical joke.

I'm not suggesting that abduction stories are always or even mostly hoaxes; don't forget that there is always a possibility that any given abduction report has been intentionally faked.

Back to Night Terrors already?

It's no coincidence that many of the same sorts of experience that "abductees" have are the same that people who suffer from Night Terror/Sleep Paralysis endure. In abduction cases:

basic descriptive characteristics of the experience are relatively constant among subjects.
Misidentified Flying Objects? An Integrated Psychodynamic Perspective on Near-Death Experiences and UFO Abductions

This similarity is often discussed as the cause of abduction reports:
Abduction by Aliens or Sleep Paralysis? (Skeptical)
Sleep Paralysis and Alien Abduction
Sleep Paralysis, Sexual Abuse, and Space Alien Abduction

Some of the common aspects in both abduction reports and sleep paralysis are:

  • fear and terror
  • immobility or paralysis
  • a sense of impending doom
  • sinister or demonic presences
  • intense light
  • humming or buzzing noises

Am I suggesting that abduction reports are the result of Night Terrors? While that may be a possibility, I don't think it's the case across the board. I do think there is a commonality of experience, and that this commonality is also present in many of the myths of humanity and in our folk lore, even across cultures.

Look at some of the descriptions of the "presences"; thin gray bodies, large heads, dark eyes. Vampires, anyone?

These types of experiences have been recognized as occurring across humanity.
The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions (Publications of the American Folklore Society)

Conclusion

The point is not that abductions do or do not happen; the point is that regardless of whether the abductions actually occurred, the people making the claims often believe that the event actually did occur. These experiences are real to them. And that is going to bring us to Part Three, and what the hell reality really is...

Sort:  

Second paragraph... "Someday we will take about media distortions..." Should be talk? (Just trying to help!)

I have no idea if there have been alien abductions or not... it hasn't happened to me. BUT I've seen interviews done by Travis Walton and if he's lying, he's one damned good liar! I believe him. I think his explanation of what the inside of the ship looked like may have been a bit inaccurate but you have to realize- here is a guy scared out of his mind... put yourself in his position and see how well you do! Also the movie may have exaggerated things (artistic license).

I don't know if Walton was lying or not; I saw the movie a few nights ago and it was the movie that inspired me to start thinking about the reality of the experience that he may have had.

As I researched this post, though, I saw the discrepancies between what the movie portrayed and what happened. That always annoys the shiite out of me (like that scene in American Sniper where he takes out the jihadi Olympic winner from a mile away in a sandstorm...didn't happen and unnecessary to the story). I understand why hollyweird pulls this kind of stunt, but I (obviously) react hostilely to it ;>

Since I haven't read Walton's The Walton Experience, I can't comment on his experience directly. I can see where the movie distorts what happened surrounding that experience. It is that kind of portrayal that hinders our understanding of what is going on.

this response should have been to you LOL

First, in American Sniper, it was 2 miles (an impossible shot even under perfect conditions... I know, I was a sniper)

In the Walton movie... artistic license like I said. The movie was sci fi. Also Travis was scared shitless- how well do you think you could describe what you saw under those circumstances? I don't go by the movie. I've seen interviews with him and a dvd of a speech at the MUFON convention at Eureka Springs... If this guy is lying, my name isn't Frank lloyd Wright!!!

If this guy is lying, my name isn't Frank lloyd Wright!

This is the point of the post though, people reporting these abductions experience them as real; whether an abduction actually occurred in those cases doesn't matter. It is real to them!

I understand. I try to stay away from the psychological aspect because I don't know a thing about it. I'm really a very mundane, linear thinker. Esoteric stuff, to me is just a manifestation of mental aberration... that I don't understand so I stay away from it.

Esoteric stuff, to me is just a manifestation of mental aberration.

;>

It is that angle which interest me in this area; what do we perceive as reality and how do we perceive it?

I remember trying my hand at lucid dreaming some twenty years ago...
it was fun until g!d jumped in and told me to quit fucking around with it...I did, and the fear of that part of the dream is still with me today. a tingle in my spine even as I write

That's all stuff I don't understand and my ego isn't big enough for me to run around pontificating about stuff I don't understand. I have trouble enough with stuff I do (or am supposed to) understand.

I've been downstairs looking for a DVD.... It's called Travis: The True Story of Travis Walton. It's by a woman named Jennifer Stein. Travis was involved with its making as well. This is exceptionally well done. It's produced by Onwinges Productions

Methinks those that claim to be abducted by aliens are afflicted with Munchhausen syndrome.

I don't think so; the bulk of the research that I skimmed through suggests there are low rates of mental illness in reportees...although there does tend to be some correlation with sexual abuse victimization as a child.

There are several reference studies linked on this page and on the next. I did not link some studies which suggest that reportees are more prone to fantasy, those will be included on the next post.

There is a theme in some of this work (Mack & Laibow primarily}; victims do not make public reports and don't really want to remember the incident at all.

This reminds me of an edit I need to make to the main post

"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly, I awaked, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man..."

- Chuang Tzu (Translated by Herbert A. Giles)

Didn't find the typo; was it the First part? I don't mind folks pointing out typos at all.

I don't know if Walton was lying or not; I saw the movie a few nights ago and it was the movie that inspired me to start thinking about the reality of the experience that he may have had.

As I researched this post, though, I saw the discrepancies between what the movie portrayed and what happened. That always annoys the shiite out of me (like that scene in American Sniper where he takes out the jihadi Olympic winner from a mile away in a sandstorm...didn't happen and unnecessary to the story). I understand why hollyweird pulls this kind of stunt, but I (obviously) react hostilely to it ;>

Since I haven't read Walton's The Walton Experience, I can't comment on his experience directly. I can see where the movie distorts what happened surrounding that experience. It is that kind of portrayal that hinders our understanding of what is going on.

Muito bom amigo suas publicação ...

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